It's great to hear about all these skaters. I also have a special fondness for Petrenko, even though he wasn't one of my top faves in terms of his skating. (I admired it but loved Browning and Wylie better.) As a man, Viktor takes the gold medal. He's been active in funding children's health care in the Ukraine, for example. (Remember, Chernobyl is in the Ukraine, and many children were affected.) His many other kindnesses through the years are inspiring. I'm also glad to hear about Urmanov. I love that he can still do all the things he teaches.

Thanks for starting this thread!

You're so welcome, Olympia! and I *completely* share your sentiments about Petrenko. He is a man with a heart of gold as well as an Olympic gold medal.

Yes! Well, we got married about a year ago. Second marriage and blended family- I have two boys and he has a girl. My boys are big figure skating fans as is their father, my lovely ex-husband, but my new husband is a newbie and needs to be converted. I thought starting with G & G would be a good idea! I tell him his education in preparation for the Olympics is beginning!

Congratulations on your new family! I'm sure your new hubby will thank you for his education in skating. (As he's sitting biting his nails with anxiety on the nights of the various Long Programs in Sochi.)

I read a few years ago that Holly Cook married and is raising a family and is (IIRC) coaching skaters in her home rink in Utah.

Congratulations on your new family! I'm sure your new hubby will thank you for his education in skating. (As he's sitting biting his nails with anxiety on the nights of the various Long Programs in Sochi.)

!!! !!! That's exactly what I want- to make him care so much that he is as on edge as I am! He's already a fan of Meryl and Charlie- I showed him a few of their programs last year.

Sumners lent three of her world figure skating medals to an Edmonds bank for display in 1984. When she returned to pick them up, the bank had changed ownership, and no one knew where the medals had been stored. They were lost for 20 years, but discovered as unclaimed property in a safe deposit box and returned to Sumners (with a mock "awards" ceremony) by the state of Washington in 2004.

Sumners always seemed to me like someone who was ready to do the work and who valued being a team player. If she was any kind of prima donna, it was never evident in what I saw of her in the media. She wasn't a brilliant skater, but she was a meticulous one, and she clearly valued gracefulness and artistry, though in the company of people like Gordeeva, Browning, and Wylie, it must have been hard to stand out.

I remember her especially for two things besides her bright temperament. One was that I first encountered the ballad "The Rose" through her. I don't tend to know the latest songs, and I first heard this one when she skated a lovely routine to it. It's remained a favorite of mine, both for the melody and for the heartfelt words. The other was something really beautiful she said after Sergei Grinkov's death. She said that the last thing Sergei saw was Katia in the landing position, which was what they'd worked for and shared for most of their lives. What a lovely way to remember Grinkov and to share him with his audience of fans.

Anissina had a press release that she would be trying to qualify for the French Olympic team. Later Gwendal confirmed the report. There sort of hasn't been anything since, but I will be checking out the French Masters competition that is coming up to see whether she (and/or) Gwendal will be competing.

Meanwhile:

In 2010, Gwendal Peizerat was elected regional councillor on the list of the Socialist Party in the Rhone Alpes region and was subsequently appointed Councillor Delegate in charge of sports in the Regional Executive headed by Jean-Jack Queyranne.

Both Marina & Gwendal have done choreography, and they did a lot of shows for years.

Marina coached for a bit, before moving back to Moscow.

On February 23, 2008, Anissina married Russian actor Nikita Djigurda in Moscow after the two met when they were partnered on a celebrity ice dancing television show.[12] Their son, Mick-Angel Christ (in Russian: Мик-Анжель Крист), was born in Biarritz on January 7, 2009.[13] Their daughter, Eva Vlada,[14] was born on January 23, 2010.[10][15] Their children were baptized in an Orthodox church in Moscow.[14] The family currently lives in Moscow,[16] but Anissina spends some time in France and works with young ice dancers

Sumners and Wylie are among the cast members of Disson's upcoming "Tribute to American Legends of the Ice." The live show will be held in Dec in New Jersey, and the TV version will air in Feb on NBC.

"This special show is a celebration of the great tradition of American skating, bringing together U.S. Figure Skating legends and up-and-coming stars of the ice–with appearances and performances from Evan Lysacek, Brian Boitano, Sarah Hughes, Kristi Yamaguchi and many, many more."

[BTW, interesting that Lysacek is given top billing in the intro above from the Disson Skating page. And the individual photos of cast members (which are not in alphabetical order) show Lysacek second (Dick Button is first). Sochi hopefuls such as Aaron and Wagner are included in the cast, along with the legends. Lysacek falls into both categories, I suppose.]

Kadavy and Trenary were among the guests at the Broadmoor Skating Club's 75th Anniversary celebration a few weeks ago. Photos from the event were floating around on social media.

Don't remember exactly, but if IIRC, Manley recently (last season?) was an interviewer for Skate Canada. I think videos (and photos) of her interviews with competitors at Skate Canada International are available online.

Thank you for the link. I saw Rosalyn in her purple costume in the Worlds in 1977. My coach praised her strength under pressure, I remember.
I'd like to know about Linda Fratianne - she is also a strong women.

On being a coach: I have to say that I have ups and downs about being a coach at times. I have such a passion for skating that I love it, to give of myself in a performance aspect and to take care of myself. But then you have the responsibility of taking care of others. Right now, I supplement coach for seven other coaches, so I don’t have as much pressure on me. I do a lot of choreography and technique.